Testament and last will - Decision

[Jabraa]

I have been spawning in this idea for about 5 minutes. BUT, hang on and hear me out.

The idea is that you should have a decision that says "Testament and last will" ( the name is arbitrary can be whatever really) and when you click on it a popup window looking similar to the "negotiate feudal contract window" comes up.

In this testament you should decide which heir gets what land, and this is based on your current succession rules, so its not possible as a gavelkind to give away all your lands to one child.
HOWEVER! What is ck3 without a plot twist?

This testament and last will, needs to be enforced by, wait for it... Your Council!
But wait!, I hear someone (totally metaphorically, I am not crazy!) say.

Why do I care which child gets what count/duchy/kingdom? I have primogeniture, or tanist etc... Why should I do this?
Well the twist here is that the council is the one that reads out the testament and depending on your (former) King's relation with them and their personality traits, they can either choose to honour it (and enforce it, if needed) or totally FU, we think your 3 year old child with leper should take the throne.
Again this is based on their relationship to the former King and their personality traits.


This must also be approved (kind of like 'to accept' or 'rebel' choice) by the heirs to the (former) King, when the testament is read. And if they don't like it but your council is all for it, the council members are the ones that go to war towards the "rebel child".
Which begs the question that you must give land to your council-members so they are strong enough to enforce whatever Testament is written. But this swings both ways. Maybe they don't like the will and are now too strong for your heirs to fight... its all about power balance, and that makes your choice of who gets to be on the council that much more important.

Yes, a genius steward is great for $$$. But without land, this guy won't be in any power position to enforce anything.


The whole thought behind this is to give the player more depth in choosing council members and that it matters more than just relation and stats, that it shows that a position of power and responsibility has been given, and that it should not be given lightly.

I am all for conversation about this. I think this can be fleshed out even more, but these were just my thoughts during a eureka moment.

 

[Blk82]

Rulers normally did not have super-secret sealed wills for that very reason. Rather, they normally made their plans for succession public. Additionally, wills had limited power to assign inheritance, as that was a matter of law. Even today, a nobleman can't will there titles to some random commoner or even their second son, titles pass by fixed laws of succession.

Additionally, you would have little reason to give the player heir less than he is entitled to, and if you could give him more, it would bypass the purpose of partition. And, there is the problem of the will becoming outdated due changes in held titles.

 

[Azarias59]

Interesting concept. I support the idea of being able allow the human us to divide our realms up, deciding who gets what. However, I don't really support the idea of it being enforced by the council for the reason s that @Blk82 mentioned. I do think that something needs to be done to spice up succession crises though.